


You Are My Family

by Narlth



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-10 01:19:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5563240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narlth/pseuds/Narlth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After David’s death the Elster family has to try and adapt to living life on the run. It isn’t always easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Are My Family

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas present for VenusRocks11 on The Heart of Camelot.

As beautiful as nature was, when you and your family relied on technology to keep functioning suddenly it didn’t seem beautiful so much as dangerous.

Leo had managed to procure a them a tent yesterday, after travelling into the nearest town with Mia. Something which proved to be invaluable after the rain the last night. They had somehow all managed to fit inside of it, synths all seated, and Leo curled tight at their feet.

Stiff when the morning finally came, but dry. Living like this was simple, but not something they could sustain for any long period of time.

With careful use of their generator, he estimated they had five more days before they would need to find more fuel, but for now they were safe residing in the forest which because of the time of year was deserted by the public.

Leo had no plan for the future, but coming from such a sheltered life he was at a loss as to the at what to do, what was best the thing for his family.

Glancing back over this shoulder, he felt a warmth in his chest at seeing Max and Mia stood together in quiet conversation. They had just finished packing up their meager possessions, glad that the weather had brightened at least a little, for they had a long time to spend out in the open.

“Charge levels?” He delivered the question as simply as it he were enquiring about someone’s well being.

“81 percent.” Niska, jumped in first before anyone else could answer.

“58 percent.” Fred said, his eyes not moving from the path ahead.

“70 percent.” Mia met his eyes for a second, giving just the tiniest of nods, she knew him the best and therefore knew that sometime that he needed that tiny reassurance.

“76 percent,” and Max answered last, which as the youngest he was prone to do, usually feeling deference towards the others and their experiences. 

“Good.” They had been trying to make sure everyone had over 40% of their charge at the start of the day, so they would be able to travel without worrying about having to stop until the evening. “We’ll continue heading West for now, see how far we get.”

Luckily no one questioned him, following their old instructions from David to stay with Leo and look after him. Despite them being designed to care for him, he felt extremely protective, they were the only family he had left. He would rather die- again- then let any harm befall his family.

The desire to just stop and hole up somewhere was strong, but for now they needed to keep going, get as far away from those that hunted them as possible before they could even think of settling somewhere.

They travelled in almost silence, feeling no need to expend any excess energy, as well as collectively feeling the unspoken pressure to remain in obscurity.

~

It had started to get dark a while ago, the already grey sky edging towards black. The forest had grown thicker, trees blocking out anything beyond them, when Leo stumbled. He didn’t allow himself to fall, compensating quickly for the imbalance.

“Leo, are you alright?” Mia asked from behind, her voice coloured with concern.

“I’m fine, we’ll continue onto this clearing and set up there for the night.” He dismissed her worries, giving a shrug towards the clearing in question. She continued to send him a worried look, but he did not turn, so remained in ignorance of her feelings.

“Of course.” Max said, always one to agree.

It took almost no time to put their tent up, and stored all their belongings safely away.

“I am going to charge for a couple of hours.” Fred said, setting up the generator in the back of the tent and plugging himself in. Besides him Niska sat, powering herself down to hibernate, having the most power of the group still.

Leo gave Max’s shoulder a squeeze, trying to convey some sort of reassurance that everything would work out eventually. He then set off to walk the perimeter, wanting confirmation that they were alone out here.

Away from everyone else, he allowed himself to slump, a hand slipping to the left of his stomach, pressing against the thin fabric of his shirt with a wince.

Pausing he glanced out of the corner of his eye, spotting Mia looking out over the space at him. Straightening he tried to hide his discomfort, he needed to be the strong one, always. He moved off again wanting to complete his lap, but as he closed his pathway he stumble again. This time falling.

Leo hit the ground hard, his feeling suddenly disconnected from his body. The ground was cold and wet against his cheek, he wanted to get back up but found he could not get his body to work. 

“Leo!” That was Mia, he tried to turn his head to see, only to find himself unable to manage even that simple of an action.

Hands were on his shoulders, pulling him to his feet. A buzzing filled his ears as he was lifted, and he blinked slowly.

“You were so caught up in making sure we were all charged you forgot to make sure you took the time to charge yourself as well.”

He groaned as Mia slipped an arm under his, easily taking his weight despite the height difference between them. “I know it can be difficult as you can’t have no way to accurately monitor your remaining power, but you need to put yourself first sometimes, it can’t all be about looking after us.”

He hummed quietly neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“No, I want you to promise me.” Her tone became authoritative, like the mother she had been made to be. She halted, letting him hang heavy, and uncomfortably in her hold.

Squinting Leo tried to read her face, but finding it blank he quickly gave in wanting to regain control of his body as soon as possible.

“I promise, now help me charge please.”


End file.
